During an appearance on Charlamagne Tha God’s The Breakfast Club, Jasmine Guy (Whitley Gilbert) and Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne Wayne) from the show A Different World, which aired from 1987 to 1993, reflected on the first season. Guy shared that she tried to quit despite signing a six-year contract. However, producers reportedly weren’t having it. The former co-stars also shared never told before stories about the inner workings, including claims that producers on the show treated its original lead actress, Lisa Bonet (Denise Huxtable), horribly. According to Guy, Bonet was routinely belittled and disrespected, stating:
“That first season, I’m telling you, it was whack, and I didn’t like the way they were treating Lisa Bonet. You disrespect her in front of an audience, in front of me, you disrespecting me too.”
Guy claimed higher-ups would often get “all up in” Bonet’s face and talked down to her, saying things like “just do it, just say it.” The actress added, “and the pointing.” After admitting she did not interfere on the set, Guy continued:
“I’m like, that’s a sweet girl because you’re not getting up on me like that. And you know, we’ve dealt with b*tches. We’re [Guy and Hardison] from New York, as far as choreographers and directors and whatnot. I was like ‘oh no, you not treating her like that.’ She had to hire security .”
Charlamagne asked if the mistreatment prompted Bonet’s exit from the show, Hardison and Guy disagreed, and shared that Bonet being pregnant at the time more than likely triggered it. Hardison said:
“[They] didn’t want a Black girl pregnant in college. I thought it would’ve been a great tool and something to inspire because it was all inspiring, so why not?”
Jasmine Guy Has More to Say
The 60-year-old also expressed feeling displeased with the network setting up the show to “compete” with other popular series. She said:
“Why would you change our time slot? And why would you put us against ‘Martin?’ I definitely took that personally. You ain’t got but two Black shows on the network, so you put us at the same time against each other? What have we done to deserve this kind of disservice? You know we not competing with ‘Martin.’ We come on at 8:30 [p.m.], they come on at 8 [p.m.]. Why did you move us? That was…detriment.”
In celebration of A Different World’s 35th anniversary, there will be an all-day marathon on TV One on September 24, 2022, beginning at 6 a.m.
